Jump to content
 
  • entries
    49
  • comments
    205
  • views
    29,395

Point 4 - Finally completed one that works!


backofanenvelope

429 views

So today's effort was put into constructing point 4. I spent a little over one hour 40 minutes building and now as I know what I need and the order in which it goes I am speeding up a bit but still taking time to get things wrong :) I feel a lot more comfortable building things up now.

 

After a trip to BnQ today with a friend who has a car I got an off cut of thick MDF which I thought would make an excellent surface for point building but didnt reckon on the pritt stick gluing the template so thoroughly to this flat surface, hmmm maybe glass IS what is needed now have to go on the hunt for a scrap of that then.

 

I am still not happy with my efforts in the frog and wing rail areas and need to tighten up my work here although I find it hard to get the gauges in the right places to be able to solder things. Possibly a triangular gauge would be better. Anyway practice makes perfect.

 

I have run a standard Grafar Mineral Wagon through it as various stages and am amazed that it runs rather well considering. I just have to build the Association wagon kit now to test tolerances and then wire it up and put a loco through..

 

Anyway onwards and upwards to a curved point.

 

blogentry-6738-0-91837000-1302982638_thumb.jpg

 

... and finally, just thought I would put all my efforts together :D

 

blogentry-6738-0-48633900-1302983788_thumb.jpg

8 Comments


Recommended Comments

  • RMweb Premium

You always need to tweak points, some a lot more than others (guess how I know that one! biggrin.gif ). For your curved point, again from experience the blades themselves need more attention than on straight point work.

Link to comment

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for info I will be alert on next one ;) actually the wing rails are what I have most problems with I just can't get them to go where I want. :D

 

t.

Link to comment

Well done.

 

I don't know about your experience, but I find that building points is a rewarding but fiddly business. In P4, some of the gauges we use are just bits of steel sheet, and being as the nose is all-important, i find that some of these help free up my digits.

 

Cheers

 

Jan

Link to comment

Thanks Jan, Yes very rewarding and somewhat compulsive. This is my first go at point building and am surprised at my progress as said previously I just wanted to jump in and have a go. Thanks for the linky that maybe just what I am looking for.

 

Next project, once I am happy with track building is etched loco construction :D

tom

Link to comment
  • RMweb Gold

You are in good company. Few modellers get it right with their first point. Once learned commercial points never seem as good. Pointwork is made from basic parts but loco contruction from etched kits depends very much on the quality of the kit and whether you and the designer agree on how things should go together.

Don

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Hi Don, well its my forth point really :) and there is still room for improvement! Yes once custom points are used it make commercial ones seem to restrictive but then I didn't know that before I jumped in at the deep end. As for kit building this will be a first to as I have only ever brought RTR so I am expecting a much harder challenge!

Tom.

Link to comment
  • RMweb Gold

Nice work Tom.

 

It's very satisfying to look back and see the process...you will be knocking them out 'Two a Penny' from now on... ;)

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...